Twelve local businesses came away with awards, including Coventry-based Imperial Candles, which scooped the Business Start Up and Entrepreneur award and Warwick design and engineering firm Contechs, which won the People Development accolade.

Coombe Abbey Hotel won the Retail award, while Coventry-based NSL Automotive Components clinched the award for Small and Medium Enterprise.

Coventry Telegraph editor Keith Perry said: “The Coventry Telegraph Business Awards have been a success story for many years but this was our biggest event to date, which provides a clue as to the robust health of firms in our region.

“There is a great deal of positivity in Coventry and Warwickshire at the moment and it is only right that we shout about all the good work being done by local companies.

“We have a long history of innovation in the area and we’ve been able to prove tonight that firms based here are still at the forefront of many industries and creating new jobs and wealth for the people who live here.

“It was only fitting that we honoured Professor Lord Bhattacharyya with the Lifetime Achievement Award given the role he played in Tata’s takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover and the success of Warwick Manufacturing Group and now the creation of the National Automotive Innovation Centre.”